Hobby: Effect Essay
Everyone has their own hobby of choice, for me it is and will always be basketball. I still play whenever I get a chance, and I am steadily meeting new people that share my love for the game. Growing up my love for the game definitely faded in and out, with the turn of the seasons. I was always a three sport kid, soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring, this led to some busy times for my parents. Once I got to high school things were much different for team sports. First of all you had to have money in order to play, and your parents had to be active with the school and with hassling the coaching staff to make sure their kid got to see some minutes. It was never about talent at my high school, it was all about politics. Since I didn't get to play basketball for my high school, I played at the local YMCA, where I met many new people in the area, and I was able to step away from sanctioned basketball, and start to play for myself.
Playing at the local YMCA was much different than playing for any school team. Whether it was the Y-Spring League of 2006, or just shooting around in an empty gym. It was at this point in time when I started to develop my feel for the game. I was so frustrated with my parents splitting up, with not being able to play basketball with my friends anymore, and I was starting to question my own abilities on the court, which are plentiful. My frustration off the court started to pass with the wind everyday that I kept going back to the YMCA on Hammond Street in Bangor. Some days we would play pick-up games, and I would meet 15 different people in one day, other days I would shoot around with just my father, these were the times when he grilled me about my jump shot. I look back on my families disadvantages in the environment that we grew up in, together, and I am starting to see them for what they were, which was not a disadvantage at all, but more of individuality.
Since the majority of my friends that I grew up with were playing basketball for the high school, I ventured out to make new friends, with basketball as my conversation maker, I would go down to one of the local outdoor courts whenever the weather would allow outdoor sport to go on. There usually was a few guys playing, they took one look at the skinny white boy and did not take me seriously. This has changed now that I am 6'1”, and I have a beard, but in high school nobody gave me a shot in hell to compete, and that is exactly what I did, compete. With the combination of my drive, my energy, and my skill, along with my brotherhood mentality, people at the local courts quickly began to recognize my status on the basketball court.
Many times I would specifically go to the courts to get away from life, and the stress that comes with it. Basketball was my tool to relieve stress, when I had nowhere else to go, I would take my anger, frustration, and hate out on the basketball court. I would always leave the court in a much more positive mood than when I arrived. Basketball was my vent I could scream and yell in the game, and it didn't matter because that's what people do when they're mid sport and they get frustrated. Not having to hold anything in while I was on the court was always very refreshing, but this caused for many bad run ins on the court as well. Since I would get out on the court looking like the angriest kid in the world, it caused a lot of other people that came out there for their own reasons to become frustrated with me. There is a very simple solution to this problem, sense the people that had problems with the way I was playing on any given day, seek them out after the game and just let them know, “Hey man I am sorry, things got a little out of hand today, let's keep it all on the court.” This statement will put me at peace of mind, and hopefully any person that I offended, because in essence it is competition and we all want to win. Basketball teaches me a lesson everyday on the court, none more valuable than this, if I focus my mind away from the problem that's at hand, many times a solution will present itself, basketball is my best friend, my swiss army knife, and my hobby.
Since I didn't get to play basketball for my high school, I made many new friends, hung out in a new city everyday, learning it from the inside out, and I started playing basketball for me, noone else. Some would look back at missing out on high school sports as a negative aspect of life, since I love sports so much, I can not entirely disagree with them. I look back at the experiences that I missed in high school, of becoming a team, winning and losing together, these are all valuable lessons, but what is more valuable of a lesson than feeling rejected because people think they are better than you? Because you may not have a thick wallet, or your last name is just not the right amount of syllables. I did not break as a person, I bent, and all of these lessons have made me stronger and more flexible with each passing day. Not to mention, spending a lot of time at the court by myself, focusing on my game, and my game alone, this made my skill, and talent levels jump through the clouds, because nothing is better for the game, than some good old fashioned hard work.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Disaster: Practice Final
Disaster can strike at any given moment, but this disaster was my own fault. The first time I was enrolled in college, I did not succeed for many reasons. The biggest reasons being, I moved into my first apartment and it was no where near my school. I had a 35 hour a week job, and it was still not enough for me to survive on. Finally, I had no car to drive me from A-B-C, and with no steady rides lined up to help me out, I put myself in an unfortunate situation. This was a tough spot for me to be in, but I did it to myself so I knew that school was not going to work the first time around, but I would be back again to make it work, once I had more ammo in my arsenal.
My first apartment was a two bedroom place, with my brother, and it was $800/month +electricity, this is no easy feat for anybody making minimum wage. I tried to go out and find a better job, but unfortunately I did not find one making any more money than what I was already making. Basically at this point in time, I prematurely moved out of my parents house, and forced the world on myself. I do not look back on this as a regret, but as a learning experience to show me where I needed to be financially, in order to make living and school work in a cooperative manor.
I was working 35 hours a week at the Main Street Shaws, and my hourly pay was not enough to compensate for all the money that was going out. I was quickly getting into the negative, and there was nothing that I could do about it at this point in time. So while I was working at Shaws, I was missing classes at school, and whenever I could make it to class, I had no ride. So I would try to catch a bus over to the school, and the bus schedule always screwed up my schedule. It was a vicious cycle of having class and work schedule either at the same time, or too close together for me to be able to make both. I had to choose work, I was attempting to be self supporting, and it was not working for me, something had to give.
Many of the kids my age had cars given to them by their parents or a relative, I was not one of these fortunate teenagers. I had no car, and my bike had two popped tires, this was depressing. I felt like I was giving adult life my best, but my best was not good enough. I had to focus on too many things at once, when I had no way of handling it by myself. It was at this point in time when I realized I needed to acquire a vehicle if I had any hopes of success. In order to do this, I needed to make more money and bank it, so that one day I could go out and buy a vessel that could assist me with getting my small things done, such as rides, and paying bills on time, and making it to all of my mandatory events. This was necessary for me to become a fully participating, fully achieving adult.
If disaster can strike at any time, all we can do is plan for the worst, and hope for the best. Now that I have a more affordable living situation, my school paid for, and a reliable vehicle, I am doing better then ever. I am trying to do right by myself and my family, and it all starts with my attitude, my initiative, and my will power to make the positive outcome a reality.
Disaster can strike at any given moment, but this disaster was my own fault. The first time I was enrolled in college, I did not succeed for many reasons. The biggest reasons being, I moved into my first apartment and it was no where near my school. I had a 35 hour a week job, and it was still not enough for me to survive on. Finally, I had no car to drive me from A-B-C, and with no steady rides lined up to help me out, I put myself in an unfortunate situation. This was a tough spot for me to be in, but I did it to myself so I knew that school was not going to work the first time around, but I would be back again to make it work, once I had more ammo in my arsenal.
My first apartment was a two bedroom place, with my brother, and it was $800/month +electricity, this is no easy feat for anybody making minimum wage. I tried to go out and find a better job, but unfortunately I did not find one making any more money than what I was already making. Basically at this point in time, I prematurely moved out of my parents house, and forced the world on myself. I do not look back on this as a regret, but as a learning experience to show me where I needed to be financially, in order to make living and school work in a cooperative manor.
I was working 35 hours a week at the Main Street Shaws, and my hourly pay was not enough to compensate for all the money that was going out. I was quickly getting into the negative, and there was nothing that I could do about it at this point in time. So while I was working at Shaws, I was missing classes at school, and whenever I could make it to class, I had no ride. So I would try to catch a bus over to the school, and the bus schedule always screwed up my schedule. It was a vicious cycle of having class and work schedule either at the same time, or too close together for me to be able to make both. I had to choose work, I was attempting to be self supporting, and it was not working for me, something had to give.
Many of the kids my age had cars given to them by their parents or a relative, I was not one of these fortunate teenagers. I had no car, and my bike had two popped tires, this was depressing. I felt like I was giving adult life my best, but my best was not good enough. I had to focus on too many things at once, when I had no way of handling it by myself. It was at this point in time when I realized I needed to acquire a vehicle if I had any hopes of success. In order to do this, I needed to make more money and bank it, so that one day I could go out and buy a vessel that could assist me with getting my small things done, such as rides, and paying bills on time, and making it to all of my mandatory events. This was necessary for me to become a fully participating, fully achieving adult.
If disaster can strike at any time, all we can do is plan for the worst, and hope for the best. Now that I have a more affordable living situation, my school paid for, and a reliable vehicle, I am doing better then ever. I am trying to do right by myself and my family, and it all starts with my attitude, my initiative, and my will power to make the positive outcome a reality.
Can of soda
I tried for hours to come up with another topic of my own, I'm sorry that I couldn't make that happen, so I stole your idea. I hope you don't mind.
Relationships are often like a can of soda, if there is too much stress and shaking the can blow up in your face. From the outside they both seem cold and hard, but once you get inside, oh how sweet they can be. Often they get crumpled and thrown away with the rest of the recyclables. Relationships take a lot of time, care, and energy to make work, but quite often energy and motives are mis placed and the blow up right in your face.
Many relationships there is much unneeded stress that goes into a relationship, it stirs up the emotions, and as soon as the couple tries to talk things out there too busy shaking up the relationship rather than solidifying it. If the proper energy is asserted, the can will open right up fiz a little bit, and then go down smoothly. However if the can is opened incorrectly, whether you shook the can or not, it can still explode right in your face. There is the right way to deal with relationships, such as being empathic and being willing to talk things out and reason with your partner. Then there is the wrong way, which is yelling and swearing, and throwing the can around to get it to open. For myself, I prefer to build relationships rather than break them.
From the outside many relationships seem to be cold and hard, and they try not to let anyone in. At the same time, once they do let you in how delicious they can be. Speaking in reference to my roommates, Aaron and Lizzie, they can both be very cold when you first meet them, but to people that know them, and to people that they allow in, they are actually quite friendly. The hard and cold shell is only a defense, to protect who and what they are, innocent, naive individuals. Each individual is protecting something, but not every relationship is as cold and hard up front as the relationship that my roommates share.
Many relationships get crumpled and tossed aside once all the valuable nutrients have been gulped down, but the relationships that last are the ones that refill there can of soda, and have a constant flow of communication. Rather than having to reopen a new can every day, the healthy relationships open their can once, and keep refilling it with a steady flow of communication. Every relationship has valuable qualities, but the big difference between a healthy relationship and an unhealthy relationship is, are both partners drinking the same amount of soda, or is one of the individuals gulping it all down and then crumpling the can up then handing it to their partner. The difference between the two is obvious, which one will last and which one will be tossed aside. The key is finding someone to share life with, not someone that will be selfish and take advantage of their partners can of soda.
So if you have found your favorite can of soda, and you got free lifetime refills, I salute you. For the rest of us that are still searching, open up a little bit and be more caring, sharing, and friendly while at the same time, stand up for what is right in this world. Life is not easy, and finding someone that can make your life easier, even the little things, like opening up a can of soda, help them out, be there for them, because in the end all your good deeds will not go unnoticed.
Relationships are often like a can of soda, if there is too much stress and shaking the can blow up in your face. From the outside they both seem cold and hard, but once you get inside, oh how sweet they can be. Often they get crumpled and thrown away with the rest of the recyclables. Relationships take a lot of time, care, and energy to make work, but quite often energy and motives are mis placed and the blow up right in your face.
Many relationships there is much unneeded stress that goes into a relationship, it stirs up the emotions, and as soon as the couple tries to talk things out there too busy shaking up the relationship rather than solidifying it. If the proper energy is asserted, the can will open right up fiz a little bit, and then go down smoothly. However if the can is opened incorrectly, whether you shook the can or not, it can still explode right in your face. There is the right way to deal with relationships, such as being empathic and being willing to talk things out and reason with your partner. Then there is the wrong way, which is yelling and swearing, and throwing the can around to get it to open. For myself, I prefer to build relationships rather than break them.
From the outside many relationships seem to be cold and hard, and they try not to let anyone in. At the same time, once they do let you in how delicious they can be. Speaking in reference to my roommates, Aaron and Lizzie, they can both be very cold when you first meet them, but to people that know them, and to people that they allow in, they are actually quite friendly. The hard and cold shell is only a defense, to protect who and what they are, innocent, naive individuals. Each individual is protecting something, but not every relationship is as cold and hard up front as the relationship that my roommates share.
Many relationships get crumpled and tossed aside once all the valuable nutrients have been gulped down, but the relationships that last are the ones that refill there can of soda, and have a constant flow of communication. Rather than having to reopen a new can every day, the healthy relationships open their can once, and keep refilling it with a steady flow of communication. Every relationship has valuable qualities, but the big difference between a healthy relationship and an unhealthy relationship is, are both partners drinking the same amount of soda, or is one of the individuals gulping it all down and then crumpling the can up then handing it to their partner. The difference between the two is obvious, which one will last and which one will be tossed aside. The key is finding someone to share life with, not someone that will be selfish and take advantage of their partners can of soda.
So if you have found your favorite can of soda, and you got free lifetime refills, I salute you. For the rest of us that are still searching, open up a little bit and be more caring, sharing, and friendly while at the same time, stand up for what is right in this world. Life is not easy, and finding someone that can make your life easier, even the little things, like opening up a can of soda, help them out, be there for them, because in the end all your good deeds will not go unnoticed.
First Apartment
When I was 18, I moved into my first apartment with my brother Jeff. It was a good time at first, but there were a few downfalls to having my first place. It was a 3 mile walk from my job, I had no money when I first moved in, so that was not going to change after the fact. The biggest downfall was the complete destruction of my relationship with my brother. There were valuable lessons with the move, and I absorbed all the lessons that life threw my way.
The months that I lived in the Ledge-wood apartment on Ohio street in Bangor, were from November until March. These are the coldest, and stormiest months of the year, this made my 3 mile one way walk cold, and brutal with every step. There was close to a mile stretch where there was no side walk, so I had to weave with traffic trying to stay out of the wet snow on the side of the road, while not being run down by traffic. There were certain days where the sidewalks didn't even get plowed, so trucking through 6 inches of snow or more was tiring. I always had to bring a backpack with a pair of dry socks, my work sneakers, and some dry pants so work didn't have to be as miserable as the walk to and from. This was my routine until I moved into my second apartment in April.
Since I was flat broke when I moved out of my parents house, I then went into the negative. I had my first credit card, that I only bought food with, but I had no way of making my monthly payments on the credit card, so I continued to fall behind. I could not continue with school, because I had no car, and a job that was too far away to make it to and from work and school. This was a low part of life for me, losing money out the window, and not being able to maintain a stable livelihood. This was not a healthy lifestyle for me to be living, along with the stress from everyday life, I was headed south, and I was hitting every rock on the way down.
My brother and I always clashed when we were kids, but we had our parents there to split the two of us up. We could never maintain healthy communication, we just offended each other, even if we weren't trying to do so. By the end, we had several altercations get physical, and we were on the brink of killing each other. The final straw was one late night, Jeff came home from work and he was in a shitty mood. He was taking everything out on me, and I was already sick of him. We ended up blowing up, and I left and said that I would be back the next day to get my belongings. So I left, came back the next day to find all of my belongings in the driveway, and the lock on the door was changed. This was the last time that him and I talked for close to 6 months, we have both been working hard on rebuilding our relationship, but it taught the both of us many valuable lessons about family, friendship, and people the are compatible to live with.
After I moved out of the apartment, my new roommates and I got along much better then I did living with my brother. Since there were more of us living in 1 apartment, rent was cheaper, so I started to have a little bit more of a flexible income than previous months. Along side with my new apartment was much closer to my job, less than a mile walk, compared to a 3 mile hike. I am still living in this apartment, over two years later, and I am getting ready to move into my new place starting June 1st. I can't wait to see what life lessons will be thrown my way this time around.
The months that I lived in the Ledge-wood apartment on Ohio street in Bangor, were from November until March. These are the coldest, and stormiest months of the year, this made my 3 mile one way walk cold, and brutal with every step. There was close to a mile stretch where there was no side walk, so I had to weave with traffic trying to stay out of the wet snow on the side of the road, while not being run down by traffic. There were certain days where the sidewalks didn't even get plowed, so trucking through 6 inches of snow or more was tiring. I always had to bring a backpack with a pair of dry socks, my work sneakers, and some dry pants so work didn't have to be as miserable as the walk to and from. This was my routine until I moved into my second apartment in April.
Since I was flat broke when I moved out of my parents house, I then went into the negative. I had my first credit card, that I only bought food with, but I had no way of making my monthly payments on the credit card, so I continued to fall behind. I could not continue with school, because I had no car, and a job that was too far away to make it to and from work and school. This was a low part of life for me, losing money out the window, and not being able to maintain a stable livelihood. This was not a healthy lifestyle for me to be living, along with the stress from everyday life, I was headed south, and I was hitting every rock on the way down.
My brother and I always clashed when we were kids, but we had our parents there to split the two of us up. We could never maintain healthy communication, we just offended each other, even if we weren't trying to do so. By the end, we had several altercations get physical, and we were on the brink of killing each other. The final straw was one late night, Jeff came home from work and he was in a shitty mood. He was taking everything out on me, and I was already sick of him. We ended up blowing up, and I left and said that I would be back the next day to get my belongings. So I left, came back the next day to find all of my belongings in the driveway, and the lock on the door was changed. This was the last time that him and I talked for close to 6 months, we have both been working hard on rebuilding our relationship, but it taught the both of us many valuable lessons about family, friendship, and people the are compatible to live with.
After I moved out of the apartment, my new roommates and I got along much better then I did living with my brother. Since there were more of us living in 1 apartment, rent was cheaper, so I started to have a little bit more of a flexible income than previous months. Along side with my new apartment was much closer to my job, less than a mile walk, compared to a 3 mile hike. I am still living in this apartment, over two years later, and I am getting ready to move into my new place starting June 1st. I can't wait to see what life lessons will be thrown my way this time around.
Process Essay
I had been pondering ideas about a solid way that I can give back to the community. Bangor Outdoor Basketball league was the best idea that I could come up with. So I began talking with the locals about whether or not they would be interested in something like this. Every person that I talked to loved the idea, and the numbers began to stack up. I began to get signatures from individuals that were interested in competing in an outdoor basketball league, you could feel the anticipation growing, along with people talking about it and spreading the word of a new basketball league in Bangor. Now the next step in the process, was to go down to the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. and see if I could get approved to run an outdoor basketball league. Then I had to continue to spread the word of the league in whatever possible, and then I had to actually make the league happen. This was not as easy a task as it really could have been.
Now that I had over fifty signatures of interested people, I knew I had some fire power to bring to the table at the Bangor Parks and Rec. So I drove down there to my appointment that I arranged for, to meet with the Assistant Recreation Programmer, Tim. Tim sensed my enthusiasm on the topic, and witnessed my love for the game of basketball. He really liked the idea of starting Bangor's first outdoor basketball league, and so Tim and I began to hash out the rules and guidelines for the league. I was going to run the league for the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. from a non-profit angle, that way it could be cheaper cost to run the league and for the registration fees. All of the money that the league made, I was going to re-invest back into the court, and the league, taking none of it for myself.
Now that the league had some momentum, I could begin to spread the word that I have been through my interviews, and began to actually plan the start and end dates for the league, and also started to work out the prices. My next interview was scheduled for a week later, and Tim gave me the okay to continue to spread word of the league, but I was not allowed to advertise for it yet, through newspapers or the radio. I went down to the court that I was planning to have the league at, and there were close to 20 people there playing, and the topic of discussion was this new league that they all keep hearing about. This really excited me, to hear all of these people talking about the league, before I even got to the court that day, this was building the momentum for my league more and more everyday.
It was now time for my final interview with the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept., and this was an exciting day. I put on my dress shirt, shoes, and pants for this meeting, in hopes that they would approve me on this alone. Tim and his boss began grilling me with questions about the league, to see if I had kept up with my notes, I passed the interrogation. Then we arrived to the cost, and the dates that the league would run. Once this part of the process came into the light, I was for certain that the league would happen. We set the dates, and the price per team down into our notes, and I was given my approval to volunteer for the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. and run the Bangor Outdoor Basketball League. After my meeting, I immediately drove to the court, to tell the players that the league was approved! There were a few people there, but it was only 11 am. So I called the list of signatures and told them to get there teams together, for the league had been approved by the City. This was a very exciting day for me.
The very next day, in the afternoon, which was more than 24 hours later, I received a phone call from Tim's boss. She began to talk to me about other options for the league, rather than running it through them, she wanted me to run the league independently. I was confused by this, because the day before we were all smiling together, and she had given me the two thumbs up to start up my league, but now she was taking it back? I now was told that if I track down some sort of liability insurance, and that they will give me a permit to run the league independently. This didn't make sense, I was volunteering to run this league, for free, in my spare time, and they took it from me. She explained to me that she and Tim had no room on their plates to take on another league, and I responded by saying I am not asking you to take on another full course meal, but to allow me to bring another plate to the table, and I will gobble my meal right up. She was not budging, the bubble had been squashed, simply because they didn't have enough time for the league, but I never asked them to run the league, just to give me the permission to run the league, for them, and for the community.
Now that I had over fifty signatures of interested people, I knew I had some fire power to bring to the table at the Bangor Parks and Rec. So I drove down there to my appointment that I arranged for, to meet with the Assistant Recreation Programmer, Tim. Tim sensed my enthusiasm on the topic, and witnessed my love for the game of basketball. He really liked the idea of starting Bangor's first outdoor basketball league, and so Tim and I began to hash out the rules and guidelines for the league. I was going to run the league for the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. from a non-profit angle, that way it could be cheaper cost to run the league and for the registration fees. All of the money that the league made, I was going to re-invest back into the court, and the league, taking none of it for myself.
Now that the league had some momentum, I could begin to spread the word that I have been through my interviews, and began to actually plan the start and end dates for the league, and also started to work out the prices. My next interview was scheduled for a week later, and Tim gave me the okay to continue to spread word of the league, but I was not allowed to advertise for it yet, through newspapers or the radio. I went down to the court that I was planning to have the league at, and there were close to 20 people there playing, and the topic of discussion was this new league that they all keep hearing about. This really excited me, to hear all of these people talking about the league, before I even got to the court that day, this was building the momentum for my league more and more everyday.
It was now time for my final interview with the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept., and this was an exciting day. I put on my dress shirt, shoes, and pants for this meeting, in hopes that they would approve me on this alone. Tim and his boss began grilling me with questions about the league, to see if I had kept up with my notes, I passed the interrogation. Then we arrived to the cost, and the dates that the league would run. Once this part of the process came into the light, I was for certain that the league would happen. We set the dates, and the price per team down into our notes, and I was given my approval to volunteer for the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. and run the Bangor Outdoor Basketball League. After my meeting, I immediately drove to the court, to tell the players that the league was approved! There were a few people there, but it was only 11 am. So I called the list of signatures and told them to get there teams together, for the league had been approved by the City. This was a very exciting day for me.
The very next day, in the afternoon, which was more than 24 hours later, I received a phone call from Tim's boss. She began to talk to me about other options for the league, rather than running it through them, she wanted me to run the league independently. I was confused by this, because the day before we were all smiling together, and she had given me the two thumbs up to start up my league, but now she was taking it back? I now was told that if I track down some sort of liability insurance, and that they will give me a permit to run the league independently. This didn't make sense, I was volunteering to run this league, for free, in my spare time, and they took it from me. She explained to me that she and Tim had no room on their plates to take on another league, and I responded by saying I am not asking you to take on another full course meal, but to allow me to bring another plate to the table, and I will gobble my meal right up. She was not budging, the bubble had been squashed, simply because they didn't have enough time for the league, but I never asked them to run the league, just to give me the permission to run the league, for them, and for the community.
Absent minded: Example Essay
Being absent minded has many aggravating negative aspects for me. More times than I can remember I have locked my keys in my car, stranding myself in the most awkward positions. How about mis-placing your wallet? I have done this at least a dozen times within the past year, and it always turns up in the least obvious place. I never know where my phone is, whether its in my lap, in my car, or under the couch, I rarely know where I left my phone. So I am consistently asking my roommates to call my phone so I can track it down easier. Anyway you look at it, I am absent minded, and having momentary lapses in short term memory have always happened to me, and I am assuming this is not going to change anytime soon.
Last winter, I was delivering food for Domino's, and I was in between deliveries. Since I had a few minutes to spare, I stopped into my Dad's house for a quick bite to eat. I left my car running because it was during the bitter cold month of January. I have the habit of locking my door every time I exit my vehicle, and this habit still comes into play when I don't even think about it. I went inside got some food, and talked with my Dad for a few minutes, then I hustled outside to get back to work. Went to go open my door, and to my dismay I had locked myself out of my car, while it was running, and while I was working. I promptly ran back inside told my dad what I did and he started laughing at me. He called his friend that possesses a device called a “Slim Jim,” It took my over 15 minutes to finally get it open after my Father's friend arrived. I drove back to the store and explained myself to my boss, and he had the same reaction that my father had, laughter.
When I was 18, I lived in a house that constantly had parties, not the greatest experience in the world, but I learned many valuable lessons in the process. Things were always going missing, such as DVD's, posters off the walls, and other items of greater value. People were hanging out in my room for a while on one specific night, and I couldn't keep an eye on everybody so I asked everyone to get out of my room. The next morning I was missing a tapestry off my bedroom wall, and I couldn't believe that anyone would steal a tapestry off my wall. I went to go leave for work, and I could not find my wallet any place. I tore my room apart, north to south, east to west, I couldn't find it anywhere. I called my mom to ask if I could borrow a few bucks for break at work, and told her what was going on. She knows me very well, and how absent minded I am, so from the beginning she didn't believe that my wallet was stolen, and that it was just mis-placed. I did one final sweep through my room, looking in all the places that I didn't think my wallet would be in. The bottom drawer of my dresser was open all night so maybe it snuck its way into the opening. I tore the drawer apart, and to my frustration it was in the back of the drawer, and to this day I have no idea how it made it into the drawer, but I am damn glad that it turned up.
Once I got my cell phone when I turned 16, I never turned back. I have had a phone since then because it is such a helpful tool on a day to day basis. Having my phone on my person 24/7/365 makes mis-placing my phone easier than anything else. Sometimes I just left it in the car, and I didn't realize it. Other times I left it at my friends house, and I don't realize it until I go to make a phone call and my phone is not where I thought it was. The other times, the most frustrating place to leave my phone is in my own lap. I do this at least once a day, and when I go to stand up my phone goes flying in some crazy direction. One specific example is when I was visiting family at my Mom's house, and I was drinking a glass of water. I had set my water on the floor by my feet, and I was talking with my grandparents for quite some time. When I went to stand up and get a fresh drink for my Grandmother, my phone went tumbling downwards directly into my drink. I was furious, what are the odds that it would have dropped straight down into my drink at my feet, crazy odds, even crazier that even to this day, I still never remember when I leave my phone in my lap.
There are many more examples of me being absent minded, but I feel these are the a few of the instances that I can look back on and chuckle about. Now that I know being absent minded is a part of me, I am okay with it, because I usually can make up for my little mistakes on the run without being tripped up by the hurdles. Although being absent minded is a negative aspect about me, every mistake that I make I try to learn from. Since I forget about the little things so very often, I am doing an awful lot of learning from my own mistakes. I will continue to grow and learn from my mistakes, and one day it will all pay off for me.
Last winter, I was delivering food for Domino's, and I was in between deliveries. Since I had a few minutes to spare, I stopped into my Dad's house for a quick bite to eat. I left my car running because it was during the bitter cold month of January. I have the habit of locking my door every time I exit my vehicle, and this habit still comes into play when I don't even think about it. I went inside got some food, and talked with my Dad for a few minutes, then I hustled outside to get back to work. Went to go open my door, and to my dismay I had locked myself out of my car, while it was running, and while I was working. I promptly ran back inside told my dad what I did and he started laughing at me. He called his friend that possesses a device called a “Slim Jim,” It took my over 15 minutes to finally get it open after my Father's friend arrived. I drove back to the store and explained myself to my boss, and he had the same reaction that my father had, laughter.
When I was 18, I lived in a house that constantly had parties, not the greatest experience in the world, but I learned many valuable lessons in the process. Things were always going missing, such as DVD's, posters off the walls, and other items of greater value. People were hanging out in my room for a while on one specific night, and I couldn't keep an eye on everybody so I asked everyone to get out of my room. The next morning I was missing a tapestry off my bedroom wall, and I couldn't believe that anyone would steal a tapestry off my wall. I went to go leave for work, and I could not find my wallet any place. I tore my room apart, north to south, east to west, I couldn't find it anywhere. I called my mom to ask if I could borrow a few bucks for break at work, and told her what was going on. She knows me very well, and how absent minded I am, so from the beginning she didn't believe that my wallet was stolen, and that it was just mis-placed. I did one final sweep through my room, looking in all the places that I didn't think my wallet would be in. The bottom drawer of my dresser was open all night so maybe it snuck its way into the opening. I tore the drawer apart, and to my frustration it was in the back of the drawer, and to this day I have no idea how it made it into the drawer, but I am damn glad that it turned up.
Once I got my cell phone when I turned 16, I never turned back. I have had a phone since then because it is such a helpful tool on a day to day basis. Having my phone on my person 24/7/365 makes mis-placing my phone easier than anything else. Sometimes I just left it in the car, and I didn't realize it. Other times I left it at my friends house, and I don't realize it until I go to make a phone call and my phone is not where I thought it was. The other times, the most frustrating place to leave my phone is in my own lap. I do this at least once a day, and when I go to stand up my phone goes flying in some crazy direction. One specific example is when I was visiting family at my Mom's house, and I was drinking a glass of water. I had set my water on the floor by my feet, and I was talking with my grandparents for quite some time. When I went to stand up and get a fresh drink for my Grandmother, my phone went tumbling downwards directly into my drink. I was furious, what are the odds that it would have dropped straight down into my drink at my feet, crazy odds, even crazier that even to this day, I still never remember when I leave my phone in my lap.
There are many more examples of me being absent minded, but I feel these are the a few of the instances that I can look back on and chuckle about. Now that I know being absent minded is a part of me, I am okay with it, because I usually can make up for my little mistakes on the run without being tripped up by the hurdles. Although being absent minded is a negative aspect about me, every mistake that I make I try to learn from. Since I forget about the little things so very often, I am doing an awful lot of learning from my own mistakes. I will continue to grow and learn from my mistakes, and one day it will all pay off for me.
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